American Ballet Theatre's Artistic Director on her progression through the company and more.

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Today’s subject Susan Jaffe is currently living her theatre and dance lives as the Artistic Director of One the country’ finest dance companies American Ballet Theatre (ABT). She assumed the post in December of 2022. ABT is coming to town this week for a weeklong engagement of the Christopher Wheeldon choreographed The Winter’s Tale. The show performs in the Opera House at Kennedy Center from February 11th through 15th.

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Before becoming ABT’S Artistic Director, she was a Principal Dancer with the company for 22 years. Her association with ABT goes back further than that though. Read on to see how.

She has performed on the international stage with the Royal Ballet, the Kirov Ballet, the Stuttgart Ballet, La Scala Ballet, Vienna State Opera Ballet, Royal Danish Ballet, Royal Swedish Ballet, and the English National Ballet. Her versatility as a dancer brought acclaimed interpretations to ballet classics, such as Swan Lake and The Sleeping Beauty, and dramatic works by Agnes De Mille, Antony Tudor, John Cranko, Ronald Hynd, and Kenneth MacMillan. She also worked with many prominent contemporary choreographers of her time, such as Twyla Tharp, Jerome Robbins, Merce Cunningham, Nacho Duato, Mark Morris, Ulysses Dove, and Jiří Kylián.

After retiring from the stage in 2002, Jaffe taught in the ABT Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School and served as an advisor to the chairman of the board of ABT until 2007. In 2010 she became a Director of Repertoire at ABT. Two years later, she was appointed Dean of Dance at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts (UNCSA) in Winston-Salem, NC, a position she held for eight years. During her tenure at UNCSA, Jaffe and her faculty implemented a syllabus based on the ABT National Training Curriculum and established the Choreographic Institute of UNCSA. Additionally, she raised $3.5 million in endowed scholarships and other scholarships.

American Ballet Theatre has been delighting audiences since 1939. Their roster of past Artistic Directors include Mikhail Baryshnikov, Lucia Chase, and legendary Broadway Scenic Designer Oliver Smith. Susan Jaffe is continuing ABT’s tradition of bringing great stories to the stage through dance while advancing the company forward. That’s a very delicate balance that some Artistic Directors never get.

Please make it ONLY about the art and attend a performance of ABT’s The Winter’s Tale at Kennedy Center this week. The choreography is by the gentleman who gave us Broadway’s An American in Paris and MJ The Musical so all you musical theatre geeks out there have a big reason to attend as well as all lovers of dance.

Susan Jaffe is truly living her theatre and dance lives to the fullest.